OriginOil Inc., the developer of a breakthrough technology to transform algae, one of the most promising sources of renewable oil, into a true competitor to petroleum, announced a production system using a type of algae that attaches itself to growth surfaces. The new Attached Growth System delivers scalability and throughput in an industrial process that delivers light more efficiently to grow algae for fuel and processing wastewater at the same time.
Growing algae in water is a challenge because as it grows, the algae thickens and stops light. One solution is OriginOil's Helix Bioreactor, which puts the lights inside the tank.
Another method is to rotate the algae periodically out of the water so it can be exposed to the light. OriginOil's Attached Growth System uses types of algae that will attach to surfaces rotating in and out of the water, exposing the algae to sunlight or artificial light. At harvest time, algae is scraped off as a sludge, greatly decreasing the energy cost of dewatering during oil extraction.